Connect Niagara, the Niagara County-run bus service, will undergo some changes to its bus routes beginning Jan. 20.
Under the new bus route schedule, the red route has been merged into the purple route in an effort to prioritize areas with stronger demand for the service. The new purple route will now include a stop at Niagara Falls International Airport. With these changes, service will no longer be provided to North Tonawanda, Wheatfield or Youngstown.
The Blue and Gold/Green routes are not impacted.
Connect Niagara will continue to allow people to wave a bus down on route to hop on or call the day before to schedule a pickup within three quarters of a mile of an existing route. The fare for Connect Niagara remains $2 on route and $4 off route; transfers to connecting routes and the NFTA Metro are still free.
“These changes are not about reducing service but focusing resources in areas that use Connect Niagara,” Garret Meal, DPW commissioner, said. “And with our free transfers with the NFTA, most areas will still be able to get most places in Niagara County and beyond.”
Meal said the changes were made by reviewing user data over the course of the last two years when the current routes were adopted.
“We do not make changes to bus routes lightly and we have done several free fare weeks in an attempt to attract new users to the service,” he said. “At the end of the day, these changes reflect the best use of our resources to continue providing the service to those who are using it.”
Connect Niagara — formerly known as Niagara County Rural Transportation — is run by the county’s Department of Public Works. To learn more about the service, the routes and to schedule a pickup, visit www.niagaracounty.gov/bus.